Latest Workers' Compensation Headlines

All the headlines from our Workers' Compensation Topic Page, ordered by recency.

California Applicants Attorneys Want Action Based on Workers’ Comp Report

Mar 31 2015 // The California Applicants’ Attorneys Association on Tuesday called for action from Gov. Jerry Brown on reported delays and denials in the treatment of injured workers. CAAA’s call to action is in response to a...

Payout of Ohio Workers’ Comp Settlement Delayed

Mar 30 2015 // Thousands of employers in Ohio who were overcharged for workers’ compensation insurance premiums will have to wait at least a few more weeks before collecting a share of the $420 million court settlement, according...

Nonemployee ‘Employees:’ The Borrowed Servant Doctrine – Part I

Mar 30 2015 // “The vital test in determining whether a workman furnished by [the primary employer] is a servant of [the special employer] is whether they (the employee(s)) are subject to the “special employer’s”...

Pennsylvania Workers’ Comp Rate to Decline for 4th Year

Mar 28 2015 // The cost of workers’ compensation insurance is declining for the fourth consecutive year in Pennsylvania. The state departments of Insurance and Labor & Industry said on Friday, March 27, that overall rates will...

N.H. Court: Worker Who Fell Asleep While Driving Due Benefits for Crash Injuries

Mar 27 2015 // The New Hampshire Supreme Court ruled last week that a worker who fell asleep while driving a company truck and hit a utility pole in the course of his employment is entitled to workers’ compensation benefits for the...

New Hampshire Senate Delays Workers’ Compensation Reform Deal

Mar 27 2015 // New Hampshire state senators have pushed off a deal to reform New Hampshire’s workers’ compensation insurance laws. The chamber voted Thursday to send a tentative deal, which would’ve given providers...

Employees Exempt from Workers’ Compensation

Mar 27 2015 // Employee-employer relationships regarding workers’ compensation are complicated by the IRS, industrial commissions, the courts and state statute. Each has its own definition or applies a different test to define...

Humana to Exit Workers’ Compensation with Sale of Concentra

Mar 27 2015 // Humana Inc. has agreed to sell the stock of its subsidiary Concentra Inc., one of the largest occupational health services providers. The buyer will be MJ Acquisition Corp., a joint venture between Select Medical Holdings...

Michigan Workers’ Comp Costs Drop, Employment Rises

Mar 25 2015 // Michigan has had some positive developments on the employment and workers’ compensation fronts lately and state officials are eager to share the news. Workers’ comp costs for employers in Michigan have dropped...

2 Mass. Roofing Company Owners Indicted for Alleged Work Comp Fraud

Mar 25 2015 // Two business owners in Milford, Massachusetts, have been indicted in connection with failing to accurately report their total payroll and workforce to avoid paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in insurance premiums,...

Goodwin Named President of Republic Indemnity in California

Mar 25 2015 // Encino, Calif.-based Republic Indemnity Company of America has named Allen Goodwin president. He succeeds Dwayne Marioni, who retired earlier in early March. Goodwin joined the company in 2011 as senior vice president of...

Second Injury Funds: Are They Still Necessary or Just a Drain On the System?

Mar 25 2015 // Second (or subsequent) injury funds (SIFs) have been abolished in 20 states. Alabama and Maine began this movement in 1992, with South Carolina being the most recent convert; each ending its respective program in 2013....

Construction Firm Hit with $79.9K Fine for Excavation Hazards in Houston

Mar 24 2015 // Federal safety officials have fined SER Construction Partners Ltd. $79,900 for three safety violations at a site in Houston, Texas. SER Construction Partners Ltd. based in Pasadena, Texas, specializes in heavy civil...

N.H. Senate Committee Not Backing Workers’ Comp Fee Schedule

Mar 23 2015 // A key policy committee in the New Hampshire Senate is backing a workers’ compensation reform bill that it says will reduce costs by 7.5 percent without imposing a price-fixing mechanism backed by business...

Benefits Provided Under Workers’ Compensation Laws

Mar 23 2015 // Injuries or illnesses established as compensable under applicable workers’ compensation law require prescribed benefits be paid to the injured employee. Benefit limits and duration vary by jurisdiction but each state...

South Carolina Court Rules Stripper Shot at Club Entitled to Workers’ Comp

Mar 23 2015 // An exotic dancer who was shot at a Columbia, S.C., nightclub is entitled to workers’ compensation benefits for her injury, according to a ruling by the state’s highest court. The State newspaper reported that...

Conn. Revisits Workers’ Comp for First Responders With PTSD

Mar 23 2015 // Connecticut’s General Assembly is revisiting whether to grant workers’ compensation coverage for certain first responders suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, such as those who responded to the mass...

Tennessee Weighs Workers’ Compensation ‘Option’ Legislation

Mar 23 2015 // Tennessee may soon have its own alternative workers’ compensation insurance through new legislation by Republican lawmakers known as the Tennessee Employee Injury Benefit Alternative. State Sen. Mark Green and Rep....

Top Donors to Iowa Governor Complained About Gay Ex-Workers’ Comp Official

Mar 20 2015 // The founders of a beef company who were major donors to Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad’s campaign were among the business leaders who raised concerns about a gay state official the governor later tried to force out,...

Workers’ Compensation History: The Great Tradeoff!

Mar 19 2015 // Eighteenth century pirates and a nineteenth century German “Iron” Chancellor preceded the United States in the creation of a social system for the protection of injured workers. The modern workers’...